Following a dream requires many things of us. Waiting. Work. Patience. Persistence. Faith. Here on this blog, I'm crowning myself Queen of Perseverance--at least as far as writing is concerned. Maybe I can help you hang in there and follow your dream, too.

Friday, October 4, 2013

My Huge Decision and an Announcement

In
my last post, I told you that I’ve been trying to decide whether my
decades-long pursuit of publication is perseverance or insanity. I told you I’d
let you know what I decided. So here it is…perseverance or insanity?

…Both.

Yep.
I think it’s good to keep striving toward a worthy goal, even for a long, long
time. That “definition of insanity” proverb, however, talks about the craziness
of repeating some unhelpful action over and over. That’s where I’m making my
mistake, at least recently.

I’ve
been going at it the same way all these years. I write, I get feedback, I
rewrite. I submit. I’m told that my writing doesn’t exactly fit one genre or
the other. I study guidelines, I rewrite, I try to make my stories fit a genre
or a publishing company. I get feedback. I submit. I’m told my writing crosses
genres. It has science fiction elements in women’s fiction. It’s too literary
to fit a genre, too popular to be literary. It’s too Christian for the secular
publishers, doesn’t have enough Christian content for the CBA. I start over,
trying to make my poor little square pegs fit into the round holes.

If
I were walking down a path, trying to reach an urgent destination, and I fell
into a hole because I wasn’t watching where I was going, it would be virtuous
for me to get up and keep walking, even with a sore ankle. But if I still
didn’t look where I was going, if I continued to let myself fall into holes and
break my bones instead of just keeping my eyes open and walking around them,
that would be crazy. Not only that, it wouldn’t get me to my ultimate
destination, because I eventually wouldn’t be able to walk anymore.

I’ve
been trying the same things over and over for MORE THAN THIRTY YEARS, trying to
get published. And I’ve hurt myself in the process. I’m starting to hurt my
writing. It’s time to try something new. I’m going indie.

Yep,
the dreaded “S” word. Self-publishing.

It’s
not what I dreamed of. It’s not how I thought my writing career would go. But
for a lot of reasons, I feel that’s where God is leading me—at least with one
novel. I feel like He has taken my hand and is trying to lead me around that
hole I keep falling in.

A
year or so ago, I was at a gospel music concert by an amazingly talented band.
The church was small but packed. I’ve seen this band numerous times. They’re
talented enough to make a lot of money, and they always pack people in. People
also frequently get saved at their events. One of the singers was giving a mini
testimony and said that she didn’t worry about pursuing fame or fortune or huge
audiences. She just asked God every day to send her where her music could be
used to reach the people He wanted her to reach—two or five or a thousand, it
didn’t matter.

I
felt as though God had reached down and shaken me. Doesn’t the Bible say
something about not hiding your light under a bushel? What if this incredibly
talented woman never sang or gave her testimony because no one was paying her
to do it? What if I continued to hide the testimony that I pour into my
writing, waiting for someone to pay me for it? Would God really bless that kind
of pride?

I
know a lot of my writer friends will be disappointed in me. I’ll have more to
say about how I came to this conclusion and about just what I’m planning to do.
But in the meantime, I’ll leave you with another thought: When the rich young
ruler came to Jesus and asked Him what he should do to be saved, Jesus told him
to sell everything he had and follow Him. But another time, when Jesus cast
demons out of a very afflicted man, the restored man was so grateful that He
wanted to follow Jesus and go with him. Jesus told him to return to his home
and tell what the Lord had done for him—to stay put.

The
Lord doesn’t want every one of us to follow the exact same path. He has plans
for all of us—different plans. This path I’m embarking on is scary, but I think
it’s the right one. I’ll keep you posted.

Robin Johns Grant

How Do I Dare?

How do I dare crown myself "queen"? Well, if there's one thing God has tried to teach me in life, it's how to wait. Read more here.

What's in it for you?

I want to help other writers--or other dreamers, in general. To encourage you when you're ready to throw in the towel. To share things I've learned that might shorten your journey. To pass along stories from others who have fought the fight and won.